Campaign of the Month:
August 2010

The Melekar Chronicles

Achievements

Encounter Milestones will stack, and they can be obtained more than once. However, they must be used during that encounter. When the encounter is over, the bonus from that milestone is lost.

Session Milestones will not stack, they can be gained multiple times, but each one must be from a unique event (ie. A milestone gained for successfully impersonating someone can only be gained once per person. If they impersonate two different people, it can be gained twice). Each Session Milestone must be used before the end of the session.

Unique achievements will be momentous events that can only be gained once during the campaign. Some will be number based (i.e. land the killing blow on 100 enemies) and some will be story based (i.e. complete “Random Adventure” or kill “Baddy McBaderson”).

Achievements also have a point value. Encounter Milestones each grant 5 achievement points the first time they are gained, and Session Milestones grant 10. You can gain the effects of achievements every encounter or session, but you can only gain the points once. Unique Achievements offer different points values, and those are listed with each achievement. These points add up to 1000. For every 125 points gained, the player may allocate a permanent +1 to any stat they choose.

For the most part, these achievements are player based (unless otherwise noted) so if a character dies and a new character is created, the achievement points transfer.

Every achievement and milestone has a mechanical bonus. Encounter Milestones, once gained, can be used at any time during that encounter, but after that time, the bonus is lost. Session Milestones must be used during the gaming session they were gained in, and can be used whenever the player chooses during that session. Lastly, unique achievements give permanent bonuses that take effect immediately.

All of these achievements and milestones will have an impact on gameplay, whether it be an encounter milestone to give one re-roll during an encounter, or a unique achievement that gives a +1 permanently to a stat. Unless otherwise noted, each bonus will be a milestone or achievement bonus, so it will stack with any other bonus types. I will monitor the effects and adjust the game difficulty accordingly, this is not meant to make the game easier for my players, just an additional reward for their accomplishments that they can see on paper.

I didn’t come up with the idea for achievements (got it from the user Kera on here) but I like to think that I’ve made it my own.